Classic Minestrone

This beloved Italian soup isn't just hearty and healthy -- it's really flexible. Minestrone typically includes lots of leafy greens, other veggies, and beans. Which to choose? You're only limited by the contents of your refrigerator and pantry.

3.
Reduce to a simmer, and cook until all the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; stir in garlic, if using, and basil. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan and, if using, torn basil. Drizzle with more oil, if desired.

Variations

For variations on this classic version, try swapping zucchini for green beans, kale for cabbage, and chickpeas for cannellini beans.

This recipe was a good base, and I liked the suggested modifications. Followed the advice of another review and caramelized first the onions, then carrots and celery, then diced tomatoes until nice and rich fond developed on my pan, then deglazed with some white wine. I then added the canned tomatoes and other veggies. I did kale instead of cabbage and zucchini in place of green beans. Huge hit for a dinner party of teen girls - even the non vegetarians came back for seconds!

Nice recipe... I had a couple of huge cabbages that needed using, but no celery. I know it adds a nice little flavor in minestrones but it's fine without it too. I did use beef broth and 7 cups water, and it was anything but bland. The fresh herbs at the end halp a lot too, and I added the traditional pasta in time for it to get al dente. Minestrones can be just about anything you want, around a basic texture and taste matrix.

This is the best soup I have ever made and my daughters who enjoy vegetarian meals are thrilled too. For those who want to add pasta, I suggest making some in a seperate pot and add to each bowl of soup as the pasta will absorb liquid if it sits in the pot until another meal.

Full-on flavor! So fresh... the fresh green beans were so much better than the canned I usually use in soups. I made this recipe as it is written & it's delicious! As is any soup, it's even better left-over.

This soup was amazing, but I changed it in three ways. I replaced the celery with 1 c. corn, the tomatoes with 1 1/2 c. spicy tomato sauce, and the cabbage with a box of frozen spinach. Everyone loved it! I'm writing down my version to do again :) So hearty, healthy and flavourful (probably from the pasta sauce).

I heavily carmelized the onion, carrot and celery with salt and pepper then carmelized the drained tomato (used petite diced) before adding the water, juice and rosemary to the pan. By that time there was heavy fond so the resulting stock did have a lot of flavor. But I bet it was more like 30 minutes for the carmelizing.